Greater Southeast Community Hospital, Washington, D.C., Officials Expected To Complete Agreement

Washington, D.C., officials were expected last week to complete an agreement with Washington, D.C.-based Greater Southeast Community Hospital that mandates the hospital meet specific performance goals toward addressing patient care issues or risk losing its license without the right to legal appeals, the Washington Post reports (Reel, Washington Post, 8/7). City officials and the hospital's owners on July 31 agreed to the deal. Greater Southeast is the only hospital in the southeast portion of the city and is the primary facility under the D.C. Healthcare Alliance, a private company that runs the city's indigent care program. Washington, D.C., health officials in a confidential July 18 memo recommended that city Department of Health Director James Buford close Greater Southeast because it has not proven it is able to prevent health and safety risks to patients. The memo, written by Denise Pope, chief hospital regulator, and signed by Theodore Gordon, senior deputy director for environmental health science and regulation at the health department, said the hospital has more incidents that require investigation than other facilities in the city. While other D.C. hospitals have one to four incidents investigated each year, the memo cited six incidents in 2001, eight in 2002 and eight so far this year at Greater Southeast. In addition, the memo said that after more than a year, hospital officials have not corrected problems or instituted a quality-improvement program. The memo stated that the hospital cannot "function effectively" and recommended its closure (Kaiser Daily Health Report, 8/5).

Terms of Agreement
According to City Administrator John Koskinen, attorneys for Doctors Community Healthcare, which operates the hospital, agreed to requirements strengthening the hospital's record-keeping standards, improving the facility's maintenance of equipment and hiring a permanent emergency room director to ensure better staffing. John Ray, an attorney for Doctors Community, said the city presented a draft outlining specific goals to be met and a timeframe in which they are to be completed. Ray said Doctors Community offered comments and raised several questions, adding, "It's an ongoing, unfolding process, but we made very good progress this morning. I'm quite optimistic about it if we continue on the same path" (Washington Post, 8/7). Koskinen said achieving the goals outlined by the health department will cost up to $1.5 million (AP/Washington Times, 8/7).